


Do No Harm

by startrek22



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Based on real-life developments in medicine, Gen, Graphic Description of Injury, M/M, This is kind of speculatory fiction on my part about what medicine in my Sonic ‘verse might be like
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:21:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26652865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startrek22/pseuds/startrek22
Summary: A veteran physician must save the life of a mysterious figure - but, there’s more to his patient than meets the eye.Little companion piece to my earlier works, ‘Dogs of War’. Mostly to make up for the radio silence.
Relationships: Avatar | Custom Hero (Sonic Forces)/Infinite (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Kudos: 9





	Do No Harm

If there was someone nearing their final hour, Dr. Lantz was the best shot they had. 29 years on the job had hardened him, more than anyone else at the center, to handle the worst of injuries; stave off the reaper, and let life go on. The past few months had been particularly busy. The war was on, and new casualties came in every day. Lantz did his hardest for each and every one of them, as did his younger colleagues learning under his watch.

Now, the war was over, or at least settling to a quieter state. Eggman’s troops were receding, and things slowed down to a normal (still frantic) pace. Less people coming in was always a good thing. Lantz’ goal, he had decided long ago, was to heal everyone. Already in the past couple of years, new medicines and techniques had emerged to do wondrous things, never thought to be possible before.

One afternoon, right at the beginning of the surgeon’s shift, a buzz came in. Patient had gone through major avulsion in the upper torso, causing damage to the ribcage and causing immediate threat to several organs.Sterilization work was underway, but he might not even make it through that. Hell, it was a miracle he wasn’t dead when they got him in. The gray-brown rabbit headed off with his data-pad, ready to scrub down and review the information. Patient was a jackal about 20 years in age, with black fur and long white hair, he read on the pad. It certainly was a terrible sight; when the doctor entered the sterilized operating center, the man was laid flat, two younger doctors working at basic wound-cleaning. The advancement of miracle in Lantz’ career was a miracle, no doubt. 30 years ago, this man would’ve had no chance, and it would’ve taken a team of 30 experts working days to help him. Now, it was a team of four, using newly developed tools and devices.

“There’s some unusual anatomy in the patient, Doctor,” said one of the assistants, not looking up from using their auto-cauterizer. “Brachial plexus has been... ‘re-wired’... towards the chest area. Ribs were re-adjusted, as well.. like a new organ was put in.”

It was a thorough process. Once the patient was stabilized, bleeding stopped and any possibility of infection cleared, repair to the central organs would ensue. Then, prosthetic replacement of the damaged ribs, either with a prosthetic or stem-cell ‘clones’. Of course, they were on short notice, so the prosthetic would have to do. Already, new skin was being synthesized in a special ‘bio-print’ device, using sample cells taken from the patient. It would be attached after internal repairs were done. 

Steadily, Lantz picked up his portable ‘synth-tissue’ printer, and adjusted its’ settings. This was one of his handiest tools; synthetic cells could be created from a mixture of bio-material, sculpted to fit the right part of the body, and applied to fill in small wounds or drama. Then, the host’s cells would overtake the synthetics in time.=

Going over the right lung, the doctor barely noticed the talking, when it first started.

“... think is next for us?”  
  
”Dunno. We’re moving in on the base tomorrow, then it’s on to the next job.”

  
Lantz paused, looking up at his assistants. They, too, had frozen, looking around.

“Yeah, life on the road. That’s the stuff..”

... All three of them could hear it. Group hallucination. Something was.. different, about this patient. Lantz furrowed his brow.

Then, it hit him.

The man, the menace, the monster; he who had killed many before the world’s eyes, maimed even more under his care. The phantom.

Infinite.

The rabbit stepped back, trying to collect himself, as he rested the hand-held end of the printer on the operating table. That glowing red... thing... the gem, that always rested on his breast. That’s what had been there. His body had been surgically altered, just to fit it. And, somehow, it had been ripped out.  The bastard. The brute. After taking so many lives, what right did  he have to live?  
  
  
The only thing that horrified the doctor more than his realization was the last thought that had passed through his head, in a moment of rage. 40 years ago, he made a vow. Help the sick and dying, let their lives continue, their hearts keep beating. Do everything in your power.

Do no harm. 

No matter who the patient was before, or would do next, they had a right to life. With that, he took the printer back up into his hand.

“You two.. this is going to be an unusual case. If you want to back out, you can.” 

After a pause, he received no words of doubt. They were with him. A little twinge of pride struck him - they were a tight crew.

With repair to the organs done, it was time for the prosthetic ribs. Custom-printed carbon fiber, they were attached to the neatly reshaped ends of the former ribs, connecting to a sturdy central sternum which could flex for breathing. 

Then, it started again.

“JACKAL SQUAD! MOVE IN FOR THE KILL!”  
  
  
Gunshots rang out. In a panic, the three instinctively dropped to their feet, as flashes of light seemed to blind them. Minutes passed, filled with explosions that rang in their ears, the sound of metal clashing against metal. 

Then, silence. Slowly getting up, they found the room in the exact condition it had been beforehand. No bullet holes, no fire.

The new ribs were ‘clicked’ into place, then adjoined with screws. 

Finally, it was time for the skin graft. The new skin had finished developing a short while before; identical to the jackal’s skin down to the DNA, it could even grow hairs the same white color as the rest of the body. Carefully, it was set into place, Lantz using the portable printer to seal it down.

Then, there was a fourth figure in the room. 

Sharp, pointed black quills. Red fringes. Eyes filled with death. It came at them with a running start, leaping over the table towards the rabbit. Yelling, Lantz stumbled backwards, collapsing into some moving tables. 

The thing just passed right through him. an apparition. Bio-material spilled out across the floor, soon to harden into an un-shaped crust. 

A couple days or so after the operation, the patient was in recovery, and the Resistance themselves had showed up to take him in. Hell, the doctor got to share a room with  the Sonic. Now, that was a young man with a lot of spark. Only.. what, 18 or so, and he was already fighting a war? There was another fellow in with him too - the one who had recovered the patient, now termed ‘Finn’ for convenience’s sake.  He was getting ready to step out, when he heard the two get in an argument. Quite a revealing one.

The other soldier, the wolf, had been encountering the jackal quite often off-the-record. That nearly kicked the hedgehog into a frenzy, but the wolf swore they never talked about anything war-related. Just.. ‘other things’.  Then, when Sonic said they were going to bring him in for interrogation and trial, the soldier exploded on him. Said if they were going to call him a ‘Hero of the Resistance’, they’d let him do one thing: take the fellow home with him.

Kept talking about how the jackal was forced to work for old Eggman, and he’d seen a side of him that no one else saw. Something beautiful.  Who would’ve thought that? Even someone like ’Finn’, finding love in a war. The hedgehog swore they’d put him under house arrest with the wolf. Cute. 

Of course, that wasn’t his business. What  was his business was the patient’s first moments of consciousness, complicated by the wolf sobbing and gripping his hand like a vise.

Looking into that wolf’s teary eyes, Lantz got a re-affirment of what his work meant on the greater scale. Here was a man whose partner he had saved from the brink of oblivion. They had a nice, long life together ahead of them. Maybe longer than his.  That was what it was all about. The potential in each life, and making sure people could live that potential.

The potential to change, maybe for the better.

**Author's Note:**

> That’s it. 
> 
> P.S.: I’ll be doing a ‘Sonictober’ collection - one short work set in the general ‘verse for each day of the month. Look forward to it, starting on the first!


End file.
